They trace the distress call to the USS Jenolan, a Federation transport ship that has been missing for 75 years, which they find crashed on the sphere's outer shell.
Commander William Riker, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge, and Lieutenant Worf transport to the Jenolan while the Enterprise investigates the sphere.
La Forge discovers that the Jenolan's transporter has been jury-rigged to sustain two life signals within its pattern buffer indefinitely, though one has degraded too far to be recovered.
After being cleared by Dr. Beverly Crusher, Scott is eager to see the ship's modern technology, but quickly finds that his old knowledge has long been surpassed and his efforts to help are instead getting in the way of normal operations.
The next day, at Picard's suggestion, La Forge enlists Scott's help in recovering survey data from the Jenolan's systems, utilizing his knowledge of period Starfleet technology.
As the Enterprise returns to its mission, the crew of the ship give Scott a shuttlecraft "on extended loan" to either continue to his retirement or to explore the galaxy.
[2] The exterior shots of the spacecraft USS Jenolan were of a modified model of a shuttlecraft that had appeared in the theatrical film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in 1991.
[10] The episode was released as part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation season six DVD box set in the United States on December 3, 2002.
[11] A further DVD release came as part of The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation – Volume 2 on November 17, 2009, in the United States, with "Tapestry", "Cause and Effect", and "The Inner Light".